Otanez highlights issues of tobacco as bio-fuel

Adding perspective to discussion of tobacco as a source of bio-mass for alternative fuel production, Marty Ortañez, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, reminds that pesticide pollution and inhumane working conditions are prevalent where tobacco is grown. “Tobacco is an industry that relies on child labor,” said Ortañez. “We need alternative sources of fuel, but we also need researchers to come up with remedies to end the industry’s behavior that harms soils and communities.”